Starcraft 3
by VoidForce
Summary: kerrigan leaves the swarm after amon is killed
1. Chapter 1

It was four months after Amon was defeated by the mortal races of the universe. Zerg, Terrans, and Protoss alike had all united together, in what was a seemingly impossible alliance for their cause, to defeat the fallen Xel'Naga and his army of hybrids. All three races were in terrible economic shape from this grand battle, and their respective militaries weren't looking any better. Kerrigan's Swarm, althought small in comparison to the entire alliance, had been the tipping point for the battle. If not for her, the Swarm would have been used against them, sealing their fate.

Protoss and Terrans alike, who once loathed Kerrigan for her past treacheries, have cooled down somewhat on their hatred towards her. Sure, there was still plently who wanted her dead, but many saw what part she had to play in the battle against Amon. The smart ones saw through the hatred, and realized that if it weren't for her, they would all most likely be dead now.

The Protoss had finally come together and found middle ground on many of their political issues. With Executor Artanis leading those of the Khalai, and Praetor Zeratul leading the Dark Templar, the Protoss were able to combine the powers of the Khalai and the Void to better assist them and the alliance in the fight for the universe.

Raynor and his raiders have now combined forces with the "new" Dominion, under Valerian Mengsk. Although good-hearted, Valerian feels he still hasn't earned the trust of all his people yet. With a father like his in power for so long, many things would need to be changed in the system to insure stability. Valerian had decided that the dominion ghost program MUST be changed at all costs. This was just one of the many adjustments he had to make if he wanted to be a better leader than his father.

Kerrigan sat on her leviathan, in what would be considered the main control room on the Hyperion. She still had control over the Swarm, with Zagara second in command. The Swarm has evolved greatly since before the war. Abathur has produced many new strains of Zerg to experiment with.

However, she wasn't interested anymore. She could care less about what kind of strain Abathur comes up with tommorrow, or how strong the Swarm is getting. The battle was over, and she was still alive. She had no more desire to lead the Swarm, and she wanted out. All she could think about these past months was Jim Raynor. How she longed to see him again. When she left him at the wreckage after killing Mengsk, she truly believed that was the last time she would ever see him. Not in a million years had she expected to survive this whole ordeal.

"Izsha, bring me Zagara. I have important matters to discuss with her." ordered Kerrigan to her servant.

"Yes, my queen." she obediently responded.

Moments, later, Zagara came crawling out of the evolution pit.

"What is it you wish to talk about, my queen?" Zagara asked.

"Come, we will talk privately. That means you, Izsha. So, don't come popping out of the wall or anything while we are discussing what we need to discuss, do you understand?" Kerrigan warned.

"Yes, my queen."

Kerrigan lead Zagara to a secluded part of the leviathan. It was very quiet here, no doubt an abandoned testing ground for Abathur's experiments. She was just going to tell Zagara flat out what was going to happen, no sugar coating.

"Zagara, you will be the new leader of the Swarm starting tommorrow. I've taught you well, and I've told you in the past that one day you would lead. Tommorrow is that day." Kerrigan stated simply.

"But, my queen, you are-" "Enough, Zagara. This is your fate. This is what you wanted from the beginning, is it not? You are strong enough to lead the Swarm properly. Just remember to have vision, like I taught you. Do not start wars without a good reason, and do not act greedy. If you follow these steps, you and the Swarm will live on forever."

"My queen, I don't understand you." she stated. "You are the best choice to lead the Swarm, and yet you want to leave? Why?" she probed.

"Zagara, even if I explained it to you perfectly, you just wouldn't understand. You couldn't understand, because of who you are. It's not hardwired in your brain to understand this subject, so do not let me catch you questioning it again." Kerrigan said firmly.

"This is because of the Terran "love", is it not?" Zagara was one of the smarter broodmothers for a reason.

Kerrigan shot her a death glare, and the conversation ended quickly.

"You're right, my queen. I will never understand it, and I also see that your mind cannot be changed at this point. I will lead the Swarm, but do not expect the same results to come to fruition as they did when you lead us."

Kerrigan nodded and parted ways. She mentally thanked Zagara for cooperating with her, for she could find nobody else in the Swarm that was capable of leading it. She quickly made her way towards the neared landing pod on the leviathan and started in the direction of the Hyperion.

In a dark corner of the room where Zagara and Kerrigan just talked, a cockroach like figure with a female physique could be seen hanging from the ceiling, taking in everything that just happened. The figure silently withdrew herself back into the ceiling of the leviathan, dissapearing from sight.


	2. Chapter 2

**for viewers: yes, she is still primal queen of blades. my apologies for not making this clear in previous chap**

Kerrigan looked back to the leviathan as she floated away, watching the giant living ship get smaller and smaller with each passing minute. She still couldn't get over the fact that she survived this war with Amon. In the heat of battle, her mindset was surely different, as it was kill or be killed. But now, a short four months after the turning point of the galaxy, she often wondered how they managed to pull it off. There were so many hybrids, and Amon's powers were limitless.

Those thoughts were quickly pulled out of her head to make room for something far more important...

_Jim..._

How would she confront him? How could she explain herself to the raiders, or to anybody for that matter? She was a killer. She had slaughtered billions for over four years, and even though she had no control, she still felt guilty. Of course, she knows nobody would believe that's how she felt. Nobody except Jim. Her thoughts then wondered onto the Xel'Naga artifact still in possession of Valerian's dominion. She didn't feel worthy of redemption, but she wanted life to be different so badly. She wanted to show Jim that reinfesting herself on Zerus was for him, for everybody. She wanted him to know that she never meant to hurt him. When she left him at the wreckage after they took down Mengsk, she had told him she loved him, and also numerous times before then. Now that she was free from the swarm and alive, she wanted to see him in person.

The small pack of zerg units who Kerrigan had accompanied with her on her departure were now starting to fidget under orders. It was almost as if they felt out of place, and questioned her authority. These specific zerg never ventured this far away from the leviathan unless an assault order was given by the queen. Five mutalisks and three corruptors was all she took with her. She didn't want to drain Zagara of the only precious units left over on the leviathan from the war. Now was a time for rebuilding for Zagara and the rest of the swarm, so under this logic, Kerrigan kept it frugle and miniscule.

Kerrigan slowly made out the faint outline of the Hyperion. She made sure to keep plently of distance between herself and the ship, she didn't want to just pop up uninvited and start a pointless fight. The last thing she wanted was to be pushy with these people, because these were Jim's friends, they were loyal to him. She carefully reached into her pool of psionic energy and attempted to make contact with Hyperion's bridge, where she assumed captain Matt Horner would be to answer her call.

**HYPERION CANTINA**

Jim sat at the bar with a somber look on his face. He was proud of the alliance, of his men, and even of the Protoss, for what they had achieved, but he was still unhappy. He had not heard from Sarah since the end of the war because he and his men were stationed near a Protoss offensive base the entirety of the battle. This was requested of him by Artanis, to ensure that he could continuously warp in reinforcements for the war effort. There were many bases like this during the battle, but the one the raiders had protected was important, as it held multiple robotics facilities and other important buildings for higher class Protoss units. His job was to defend this base from the constant hybrid attacks, with the assistance of some dark templar.

There had been many parties and much celebration in the cantina after the war. Soldiers from both the dominion and the raiders celebrated, together, on the same ship for weeks after the great victory. Red and blue marines, not shooting at each other for once, was sure a sight to be seen in this day and age. Things were changing really fast, and for that, Raynor was grateful.

However, he needed to know of Sarah's whereabouts. He couldn't move on unless he knew the truth.

**HYPERION BRIDGE**

"Warning, class 12 psionic signature inbound." the adjutant's voice rang.

_It can't be... _Matt thought to himself.

Seconds later, Kerrigan's face pops up on the communications screen. _Or maybe it can be. _

He pushes a button and opens up communications with her. "What is it, Kerrigan?" he asks her calmly, yet firmly.

"Matt, where's Jim? Is he still on board the Hyperion?"

Horner hesitated for a few seconds before answering "He is, Kerrigan. We're on route to stop for fuel now. Where have you been since the end of the war? Nobody told us anything, we didn't even know if you were still alive."

"I'm fine Matt, I just need to speak to Jim. Please put him on." She wanted to see his face so bad now, nothing else really mattered to her. Horner put her on hold until he could call Jim to the bridge.

_**CANTINA**_

As he readied himself for another swig of "liquid poison", Jim's communicator went off.

"Really, Matt? Now of all times, you have to annoy me?" he answered, annoyed.

"Sir, this is urgent. We need you at the bridge immediately! Horner, out."

Raynor sighed and got up, a little tipsy from his last drink. _We just got done doing the impossible, you'd think I would get a little time off?_


End file.
